This is a tough fight to get excited about. It’s not that Medeiros did anything wrong, or didn’t impress. It’s that we saw him outstrike a grappler who clearly is not comfortable on his feet whatsoever. However, let’s choose to be positive. He defeated an American Kickboxing Academy member by using effective, if not dominant striking and showed some really nice takedown defense. The only offense that Castillo put together came after a low blow. That should say something.
Saffiedine defeated Terry via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
I’ll say it again: Training with Cung Le might be a mistake. I keep saying that Anthony Johnson needs to get with a real camp if he wants to be a legit contender, and we saw again here that Terry was simply overmatched. Terry has a great highlight reel TKO with a head kick, but against a tougher opponent in Saffiedine, he was peppered with shots throughout and couldn’t get a takedown. Saffiedine looked good, and I like the combination of all the different arts he combined in his attack.
Luke Rockhold defeated Paul Bradley via TKO (Knees to the Body) at 2:24 of round 1.
Rockhold was absolutely dominant. He was winning the standup battle many times over and did it by using impressive counters. The finishing sequence was impressive as he threw a couple of really nice knees against the cage to drop Bradley. Combine this win with some of Luke’s submission wins, and suddenly this is a guy that we really need to start looking at.
Trevor Prangley vs. Karl Amoussou ends by Technical Draw due to accidental eye poke from Prangley at 4:14 of round 1
Everyone is going to get on the referee for this, but it isn’t really his fault. He was a slave to a dumb rule. When someone gets poked in the eye like that, why should they not be allowed five minutes to recover? Is it any different then getting hit with a low blow? After a few minutes, unless you really got gouged, your eye starts to open and you can go on fighting. That was a good fight for four minutes, and it’s a shame that it was stopped because of a stupid rule like that.
Sarah Kaufman defeated Takayo Hashi via Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
Kaufman was just too strong for Hashi. The reality is that 135 is not a very deep division in women’s MMA. Hashi is a 125 fighter who was fighting up in order to give Kaufman an opponent. Kaufman boxed well throughout the fight, but Hashi simply could not keep up with the Canadian fighter. The problem is going to be finding an opponent for Kaufman. Even Jordan Breen might have to dig deep into the bag of tricks to find one.
A few days ago, we posted an interview the always excellent Jordan Breen did with our local favorite MMA prospect Gian Villante. The other guy that he interviewed on that same show was Gunnar Nelson. Gunnar is a young BJJ fighter with a black belt under Renzo Gracie and a win to his credit over Jiu-Jitsu expert Jeff Monson who is a heavyweight. Gunnar fights at 170. So, yea, he’s good. Here is video of his latest fight. Most of the vid is just hype, because the fight ends pretty quickly.
Cain Velasquez – For the first time, Cain made me a believer. He boxed with Nog for an extended period of time and wound up getting the better of the exchanges. While we would all love to see him fight Brock Lesnar, there is a better chance of him taking on the winner of Dos Santos/Gonzaga.
Wanderlei Silva – We never got a chance to take our picture, but let’s put it here: War Wand! Wandy looked better than he has in a while with crisper striking and looking quick at his new weight class. He almost finished Bisping twice, which says more than I think people are letting on. He won’t be fighting Anderson Silva anytime soon, but his showdown with Akiyama should show us a lot about the new school Wanderlei.
George Sotiropoulos – Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oy, Oy, Oy! I was shocked by how dominant George was over Joe Stevenson. I thought that Stevenson would have a chance to take him down and do a little damage from top, but George showed great control, highlighted by how freaking HUGE he was! Next comes the big test for George, in the form of Gray Maynard or Jim Miller.
Stock Down
Joe Stevenson – Joe was dominated throughout a three round fight. He could not do anything throughout a three round fight, and that is either on the feet, on the ground or anywhere else. While Joe has had a bit of a renaissance, he might be done as a top lightweight.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira – Just caught a bit of Beatdown After the Bell on Sherdog, and Jordan Breen was talking about how Nog is done as a fight in fight out favorite. While I respect the hell out of Jordan, I don’t know what that means. Nog is still better than 95% of the heavyweights out there. He will get back into to title contention, and we’ll be having this conversation again.
Keith Jardine – Enough of Keith. Seriously, I know that he was in the fight. However, Keith’s chin is so suspect at this point, there is no way to make him a favorite against anyone who can strike worth a damn. He is in trouble and NEEDS to win his next fight.
We routinely pimp Ring of Combat here on the site. It’s the northeast’s best MMA promotions and has sent a number of fighters to the UFC. The names include Tamdan McCrory, John Howard, Dan Miller and Frankie Edgar.
Perhaps their best current prospect is heavyweight Gian Villante. Villante is Long Island born and bred and currently trains at Bellmore Kickboxing Academy. He was a star linebacker in FCS football at Hofstra in Garden City, NY. Since moving to MMA, he is 5-0 and is simply smashing fools. Dana and the UFC, are you listening!?
Listen to the JBS with Gian here. You’ll be glad you did when Gian upsets Kimbo Slice.
Don’t laugh, It could happen. If you want to check out some of Gian’s fights for free, click here.
Here are the fantasy shots for Week 10 courtesy of the ma gentlemen of College Basketball 2Nite. With just a one game lead over Stein, he is putting out, what he claims to be a “stud” lineup out…
Stein:
G- Aubrey Coleman, Houston (26 ppg, 7.5 reb) – 2/9 vs. Western Kentucky
G- LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor (18.5 ppg, 4.3 reb) – 2/10 vs. Nebraska
G- Devan Downey, South Carolina (22.9 ppg, 3.6 asts) – 2/10 vs. Florida
F- Evan Turner, Ohio State (18.9 ppg, 9.5 reb) – 2/7 vs. Iowa
F- Landon Milbourne, Maryland (14.4 ppg, 5.4 reb) – 2/7 vs. North Carolina
Cornell over Brown – 2/6
South Carolina over Florida – 2/10
Soldano:
G- Kemba Walker, UConn (13.5 ppg, 6 asts) – 2/6 vs. DePaul
G- Jordan Crawford, Xavier (19.5 ppg, 4.8 reb) – 2/6 vs. Dayton
G- Evan Turner, Ohio State (18.9 ppg, 9.5 reb) – 2/10 vs. Indiana
F- Ed Davis, North Carolina (14 ppg, 9.5 reb) – 2/7 vs. Maryland
F- Greg Monroe, Georgetown (15.4 ppg, 9.7 reb) – 2/9 vs. Providence
North Carolina over Maryland – 2/7
Pittsburgh over Robert Morris – 2/8
Listen to College Basketball 2Nite: The Late Game Situation every Friday night at 10 PM (EST) on WCWPSports.
I know, it’s late, but a road trip up to St. Thomas Aquinas with Jordan, Max, and the real (and white) Patrick Creighton caused a delay in the fantasy shots post. Entering Week 9, I hold a two week advantage on Stein:
Stein:
G – Landry Fields, Stanford (22.3 pts, 8.6 reb) – 1/30 vs. Arizona State
G – Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga (16.5 pts, 4.3 asts) – 1/30 vs. San Francisco
G – Jimmer Fredette, BYU (21.2 pts, 5 asts) – 2/2 vs. TCU
F – Alex Franklin, Siena (16.1 pts, 8 reb) – 1/30 vs. Marist
F – Jarvis Varnardo, Mississippi State (13.5 pts, 11.1 reb) – 1/30 vs. LSU
Mississippi State over LSU – 1/30
Northern Iowa over Wichita State – 2/3
Soldano:
G – Willie Warren, Oklahoma (16.8 pts, 4.3 asts) – 1/30 vs. Nebraska
G – Jacob Pullen, Kansas State (19.3 pts, 3.5 asts) – 2/2 vs. Nebraska
G – Nic Wise, Arizona (16 ppg, 3.8 asts) – 2/4 vs. Washington
F – Ekpe Udoh, Baylor (13.7 ppg, 4.2 bpg) – 2/3 vs. Iowa State
F – Tasmin Mitchell, LSU (17.9 ppg, 9.6 reb) – 2/4 vs. Tennessee
Connecticut over Marquette – 1/30 (EPIC FAIL)
Georgia Tech over Kentucky State – 1/30
Tune into College Basketball 2Nite: The Late Game Situation, every Friday night at 10 pm (EST) only on WCWPSports.
February 27, 2010, at 6:05 am
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